My Heart Will Go On
by Habit
Summary: Losing the one you love makes you do stupid things. Sakura married a man she didn't love and was miserable. But she's given a second chance when news reaches her that her heart she thought was dead, is alive. What will she do? No real sex just bad lang
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a piece a lot like Face Down. It has a faster pace with a lot of skipping going on, but that's how it's supposed to be. I like calling these types flash stories, because the sequences are flashes of action. I like it, but I'll admit this prolly has a lot of mistakes. It's something I wrote in one sitting really late at night because this plot kept chewing away at my brain and I just couldn't bring myself to delete it. Hope you enjoy. Oh, and I do not own Naruto or the toons from the show.**

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**Prologue**

Sakura was in a typical bad marriage. Her spouse cheated on her, beat her up when she confronted him about his infidelity, and then tried to patch things up. No…if he was willing to put his hands on her, he'd harm her children first chance he got. So, she did what any other concerned mother would do…she filed for divorce. Her children, surprisingly, understood. They didn't think much of their 'daddy' after they'd seen their mommy having to stitch up her own wounds. Her oldest, Sei, had some rather unflattering things to say about the man that had 'played at being his father', as the youth had called him.

But the sad reality was that the teenager was right…her soon to be ex-husband was not the father of her children. No…he'd just been obsessed with getting her pregnant with kids of his own. When it had come up that he, uh, had a little trouble with the plumbing, he'd blamed her. And she'd laughed right in his pompous face. She'd pointed at the picture of her with her two boys and told the raven haired man that there was obviously nothing wrong with her, because she had two kids. That had been the day that things had started to go downhill.

Unable to produce any heirs of his own, he'd tried converting Sei into his heir. Tried to make the teenager look like him, talk like him, and act like him. Sakura had squelched that before it had come to fruition, telling her onyx eyed husband that if he thought she was going to allow him to turn her son into a clone of himself, he was sadly mistaken…that is when the beatings had started. It had started out as 'foreplay' as Sasuke had called it. He'd gotten overly excited when he'd hit her and had demanded her presence in bed immediately. Apparently, he was under the impression that, the more excited he got, the better his chances to procreate. She'd laughed in his face about that.

And that had been when he'd busted her lip and thrown her into the marble counter, practically raping her from behind. When he'd finished, he'd pushed her, causing her to trip and slam her head into the corner of the counter, hence the stitches.

Today, she was having to console her children after Sasuke had viciously yelled at her, called her horrible names, and called her sons bastards. Her youngest son, Rori, didn't understand why their 'daddy' had suddenly started hurting mommy. Sakura had told him that Sasuke was not their daddy, just the man that mommy married after they were born. Boy did Sasuke not like that. He'd ranted at her, called her a whore, slapped her…all in front of her children. She'd stared at him with emotionless eyes, turned around and gathered her children for bed.

When she'd put them to bed, she'd gone to her office, and then to her bedroom, where she knew he'd be. He'd rounded on her, intent on taking out his frustrations, only to be staring down the barrel of a Desert Eagle. He looked up over the barrel at the livid emerald eyes and put his hands in the air. Very quietly, so as not to wake her children, she backed him up to the wall. She'd had enough.

"You are going to pack up your shit and leave. Grab your suitcase, get your clothes and toiletries and all your clan shit and get the hell out of my house." she hissed at him. He glared at her, even though she held certain death in her hands.

"Don't think this wont come back to bite you in the ass Sakura. I have connections." he growled at her. She smirked at him and let out a low, evil chuckle.

"Baby…the only thing you scare is small children. Now get your shit and get out. I'll have the divorce papers for you by five tomorrow evening." his eyes went wide and round and he stopped, her gun still trained between his eyes.

"It takes at least a week to get those papers drawn up…how are you gonna-" she cut him off by pulling back the action, making it fire ready. He gulped and just stared at her, a deer in the headlights.

"You're not the only one with connections, Sasuke. Now get out of my house and stay away from me and my children. If I see you again, I will take it as a threat and shoot you. Never again will I allow you to beat me, deface me in front of my children, or rape me when my children are in the next room." she was baring her teeth at him. He snorted and threw one of his socks into a bag.

"You can't prove anything, Sakura. When I go to my brother, and he finds out your pointed a gun at me, he's going to drag you down faster than your prom dress before you had those two brats." he jumped when a round embedded itself into the molding by his head. He looked at it, then at her, and back at where she'd fired. "Are you crazy!? There's no way your kids didn't hear that! They're material witnesses against their own mother!" he yelled. Sakura didn't smile, she didn't frown…just gave him a cold stare.

"Get your shit and leave, Sasuke. I wont tell you again." He went around the bedroom, collecting all his clothes. He made to grab something, but she stopped him. "I said your things, Sasuke, not mine. The only things you own are the things with your clan symbols on them. " he stared at her, and then back down at the one thing he wanted out of this house more than anything else…the Jade Buddha with rubies for eyes. It was by far the most expensive item in the house…and belonged solely to Sakura. She'd amounted quite a bit of cash before she'd married him.

As assurance he wouldn't take her money and leave, she'd forced him to sign a prenuptial agreement before she'd even talk to him of marriage. It stated that anything and everything she could provide a receipt for that was paid out of her own pocket was hers. If they had gone in together, and bought something, they could talk terms. His eyes narrowed on her. He knew for a fact she kept all her money in a separate account and only about six percent what she earned was in their mutual account. The rest went into trust funds for her children.

They never received bills, they never had to worry about utilities, and there were never any tax forms sent to them. Everything she was, everything about her, was secret…shrouded in mystery. He took the six things with his clan symbol on it and carefully put them in a large gym bag. He looked at her over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed. "You'll regret this Sakura. I'll make sure of it." he watched as a cruel smile had curved those lips he'd once loved to bruise.

"No, Sasuke. I wont. But, then again, there's really nothing you can do to me that I haven't been through before…or worse." was all she said before she slammed the door in his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Again I'll remind you, this is going to be a fast paced story, and some of the things won't make sense, but things regarding the government (especially when I make a fic that isn't fantasy based-meaning no weird superpowers-or supernatural) don't often make sense for me. Think of the show The Unit...it's kinda like that, with the flashing to diff scenes all the time and never really making a lot of sense. (BTW, I 3 The Unit, so I wasn't dissing it, just so yaknow). I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Chapter 1: Haruno**

Sakura sighed as she sat at the table and matched receipts to pictures. Sasuke was trying to fight the prenup, as she knew he would. He was a greedy bastard who'd married her for her obvious wealth. She'd known this, but she had been in desperate need of a male role model for her sons. She sweat dropped as she realized she'd not done a very good job. However, as she put receipts to all the pictures, highlight what account they came from and when, she thought about the life she'd left behind when she'd walked out on her children's father.

She'd just found out she was pregnant with Sei when she'd disappeared the first time, telling him she had things to take care of back in the states. She'd taken eleven months off work, had her son, left him with her mother with a picture of herself and told her mother she'd be back in two months to check on her child. She'd done this for four years, until she found out she was pregnant again. By then, she couldn't take it anymore. She'd drawn up her resignation papers, contacted her boss, told him her situation, and had left without a trace.

Four years later, she'd been sitting in the kitchen of her mother's house when a newsflash had gone off. She was feeding four year old Rori and eight year old Sei had been throwing spaghetti at her head when she'd seen the images of a war torn middle eastern country, civilians being senselessly murdered, and the headline that four 'high U.S. officials' had gone missing. She'd gulped and gripped her cellphone. Seconds later, it had rang. She'd answered it emotionlessly, not willing to show how much it hurt her to see these things. She never showed it to anyone…except him.

That day had been the worst day of her life. These 'high ranking U.S. officials' had been her ex-partner, whom she'd loved like a little brother, her best friend at the time, and the father of her children. The fourth had been some politician she didn't know. She'd hung up the phone without another word and grabbed her coat. Her mother had shook her head sadly, but then smiled at the whimpering children and made faces at them, causing them to laugh.

Sakura had run the six miles into town, despite the rain, and to the nearest payphone she could find. She'd called in, told them she could help, and had been on a plane to D.C. the next morning. They'd handed over operations to her, and she'd managed to bring home three of the four missing people. The fourth…she felt tears burning her eyes even now and looked up. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away. She heard the screeching of brakes and smiled. She stood and walked to the front door and outside to the street, meeting her kids as they got off the school bus.

She gave Sei a high five, instead of hugging him in front of his friends, and picked Rori up, throwing him in the air. Both boys laughed, their emerald eyes filled with joy. But she could see the underlying worries, the sadness…the fear. She kissed Rori on the head and pulled him in close to her body. She pulled Sei under her shoulder and kissed him on top of his head. "Who wants to go see grandma tonight?" she asked. The instant joy on their faces made Sakura laugh. Seeing their grandmother always made them smile. Since Sakura had recently moved her mother closer to where she was, since the weather in Minnesota wasn't exactly good for the aging lady, and was glad she'd done it. She didn't know what she'd have done without her charismatic mother over the last few days of court battling with her soon to be ex-husband. She put her eight year old son on the ground and help his hand as they walked to the house.

As soon as they were in, she heard her answering machine beeping. Frowning, because everyone called her on her cellphone, she went to it and played it. She stiffened at the voice of her old boss. "Haruno, hope this message finds you well. I sent the boys' birthday presents, they should arrive within the week." she could hear the ecstatic chatter of her old partner in the background. However, it was squelched by her boss, who yelled at him to shut up. She shook her head and laughed. They'd known for a while where she was, and she didn't mind. They sometimes visited, but not often enough for the boys to remember them. However, she knew this wasn't a pleasure call. Kakashi only ever called her for one reason.

"Regardless, I have news for you. In one month, we are initiating a covert operation to retrieve Agent Sabaku from his current prison…we would like you to lead the operation. Call me back as soon as you get this." all the color drained from her face as she stared at the machine. They'd found him? Alive? Tears fell from her eyes as she processed this. Two small hands on her, one on her back and one on her leg, had her standing up straight and looking down into the faces of her worried sons.

"Momma, why are you crying? Was it Sas-gay again?" Sakura knew she should reprimand him for his language, but it was funny. However, she was still in shock. Her youngest, Rori, started to sniffle.

"M-mommy…why you cry mommy?" he asked in a small, pitiful voice. She knelt down gracefully and gathered her sons to her smiling while tears fell down her face.

"Mommy's happy, boys." she said and laughed, wiping the tears away, when Sei gave her a droll stare…so like his father's. She kissed his forehead and then Rori's. "That was mommy's old boss…you know, the one that used to send mommy on long trips?" Sei scrunched his forehead and looked at her. His eyes widened and he pointed at the picture at the end of the hall.

"OH! You mean the old guy with silver hair! Yeah, I remember him coming to my birthday party last year." his eyes darkened in anger. "He said something and made you cry. What does he want?" Sakura just laughed and held her sons close to her.

"Yes, the man with silver hair. And it wasn't so much him as the news he gave me. You see, the reason mommy is so sad, is because when you guys were really little, your daddy disappeared." She noticed the boys look at one another and then at her, as if wanting to hear more about their daddy. She smiled and kissed them both again. She wiped her tears away and pulled a small bundle from the drawer under the answering machine. She opened it to find a silver embossed photo album. She opened it and they saw a man with crimson hair, just like theirs. Rori squealed and touched the picture through the film. It was obviously taken with an old camera. It was the man with red hair and light green eyes and Sakura, who was smiling and waving at the camera.

In the next photo, there was a blonde man with the red head in a head lock, the red head looking thoroughly un-amused. Sakura was cheering in the background, her fist in the air. They were all wearing black fatigues and tight black shirts. Sakura's hair was shorter, barely chin length. She flipped to the next page and two more photos presented themselves. This one was of the red head, smirking, about to pile drive the blonde into a dune of sand. The blonde was no longer smiling, yet rather trying to get away. Sakura was laughing in the background. The next picture was of Sakura jumping on the red head's back and laughing as the red head smirked.

She turned again and there were two more pictures. This time, Sakura was shaking her fist at whoever was behind the camera, an obvious blush on her face. The red head was sitting up on a bed, smirking. The next picture was of the red head pressing his face against Sakura's, who was smiling happily, and seemed to have been taken at arms length. There was one last photo, as she flipped the page. It was a large group photo…kind of like the one at the end of the hall, but there were more people in it. She smiled sadly and touched it.

"This was my class right out of training. We were soldiers fighting to protect people like you and like grandma. Grandma didn't like it that I was in the military, but she knew that, like grandpa, it was something I felt I needed to do." she smiled as she reached down her shirt and pulled out her dog tags. Even after all these years, she still wore them…and the one she'd exchanged with Gaara.

She pointed at the tall silver haired guy, who was in the other photo. "That's Kakshi. He was our commanding officer, and later, our contact. He's the one that made sure mommy was safe each time she came home." the boys smiled and touched the picture where the guy was. She pointed to the guy right beside him, going from left to right. "That's Kakashi, of course, and then there's Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji on the end. This is Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Lee. Neji, Tenten, Sai, Naruto, me and…" she trailed off, tears coming to her eyes. She put her hand to her mouth and gave a sob. Her boys looked up at her, then back down at the picture. It was Sei that understood what happened.

"That's our dad…isn't it?" she nodded, tears falling from her eyes as she looked at the stoic red head she'd loved so much. She'd left him a note, telling him that she could no longer serve as a Black Ops with a clear conscience…not since that kid had gotten caught in the crossfire she had initiated with the terrorists they'd been fighting. She'd seen Sei in that kid's place and had almost had a break down. He'd told her he'd contact her when they got back and she'd told him, before she'd left, that she loved him. He smirked at her, told her she was being a girl, and she'd laughed. She'd known it would take a while for them to suppress the uprising…she'd waited, patiently. And then Kakashi had called, saying that Naruto, Shikamaru and Gaara had been captured by insurgents. She'd immediately gone back to find him, but she'd only managed to find Naruto and Shika. Gaara had not been with them. Her heart had died that day, four years ago, when she'd been unable to find him and bring him home. The only thing that had kept her going were her children.

Sakura smiled and hugged her boys to her, excitement coursing through her for the first time in four years. She smiled at them and ran her fingers over the photo. "Mr. Kakashi just called…they found daddy and they are going to bring him back." her excitement dimmed as she thought of leaving her babies behind. She looked at them with mixed feelings and Sei seemed to understand what was wrong.

"They need you to bring dad back…don't they?" he asked carefully and Sakura smiled sadly. She looked at her hands, which had not touched a weapon before the night she'd told Sasuke to get out. They were trembling.

"Yes. They need my help to bring Gaara back but…" she looked at her sons and both knew she didn't want to leave them. It was Rori that wrapped his little arms around her neck and looked up at her with the biggest, most innocent eyes she'd ever seen.

"Mommy…are you going to bring daddy home?" Sakura gasped and looked at Rori in shock. She looked over at Sei, who was smirking now…so much like his father. Sakura let out a sob and hugged her boys close to her. She made up her mind then and there…she was bringing her children's father home to them.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This is the last time i'll mention this is a 'flash action fic' in which things are supposed to be a little choppy while still making relatively good sense. It's a new writing style I'm trying, so, yeah. Lol. I actually enjoyed this after i finally got it on paper. DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Chapter 2: Divorced**

Sakura had doubled her efforts to make sure the divorce went smoothly. She'd called in a few favors and arranged for a house in D.C. Her mother had sighed, saying that D.C. was not the kind of place you raised a child. Sei and Rori had looked at her and asked if she hated their daddy. Sakura had arched a brow and looked at her mother, who was shocked down to her red toenails. Sakura had since packed up all her and the boys' belongings and they were in boxes in her mother's house. A truck would be there tomorrow morning to pick up the boxes and taken the to their new house in D.C. Sakura's mother had told her, plain and simple, she was going too. Sakura had thrown her arms around her mother and thanked her.

The blonde had laughed and ruffled Sei's hair before picking Rori up. "You didn't honestly think I was going to let you cart my grandsons off without me, did you?" she had replied, so which she'd been pounced on by Sei and Sakura simultaneously. They'd all been laughing when the doorbell rang. Sakura had instantly gone into soldier mode, because no one was supposed to know Sakura was there…except her divorce lawyers. Sakura had opened the door, her emerald eyes sparkling like their gem counterparts. The man at the door had seemed surprised with the cold manner in which he was greeted.

"I'm Torjya Akira from the Children's Health Ministry. I received word from a concerned father that his children may be taken from him sometime soon. Are you," he looked down at his clip board and then back up at her "Uchiha Sakura." Sakura arched a brow at him and turned around, slamming the door in his face. She could hear his knocking as she walked over to her brief case, pull out a copy of both her son's birth certificates and walked back to the door. She yanked the door open and shoved the documents onto his clipboard.

"Both my children are Sabakus. They have been since the day they were born. Sasuke lied to you." she said before slamming the door again. She walked into the kitchen and noticed her mother smirking and both her boys smiling. Sakura laughed and rolled her shoulders. "Oh, that felt so good. I bet Sasuke thought I'd signed that stupid little adoption certificate he'd laid on the kitchen table right after we were married. Sorry Uchiha, but both my boys are Sabakus." she smiled down at her kids. Even though both her sons used her surname of Haruno she knew, deep down, they were both Sabakus.

They laughed and both woman worked to prepare supper. Sakura sat at the kitch table that night, making an outline of all the money she'd spent on her children, medical and otherwise, that had been solely hers and that the only person who'd ever used the money from their joint account had been Sasuke. She provided legal documents and put a sticky note to have someone notarize it tomorrow. Packing everything in her briefcase, she stuck it in her mother's floor safe and then went to the room she'd been sleeping in. There were boxes upon boxes inside, all her things were in this one little room. She sighed and laid on her bed, intent on getting a few hours of sleep.

She was awakened, rather rudely, to hear noise downstairs. She was instantly awake and alert. She had her desert eagle in her hand and loaded it quietly as she crept down the stairs. She used her mother's mirror to see how many were in the kitchen. There were two, one a little taller than the other one. She waited quietly to see if there were any more. A cool hand on her shoulder had her whirling and pointing her gun straight into the very pissed off face of her mother. She mouthed 'sorry' and pointed to the mirror. The older woman looked and noticed the two men, neither of which seemed to be armed. Her mother gave a cruel smile.

Before Sakura could say anything, her mother was down the steps and into the kitchen. She'd never seen the other woman move so fast. With a bellow of rage, her mother dropped her shoulder and rushed the two intruders like a line backer. Both were caught off guard and were taken down by the buff blonde. She had both pinned under her and punched into the floor, splintering the boards by their heads in her anger.

"You come into _my _house, where _my _grandsons sleep and snoop around in _my _daughter's belongings." she growled angrily, making Sakura smirk. She should have known her mother's temper hadn't waned in the twenty years since she'd moved out. She shook her head and reached around the corner for the phone. She picked it up and dialed 911. She calmly explained that she'd heard a noise, gone to investigate and had found two burglars in her mother's kitchen. She then explained to them that the fifty two year old woman had, in a fit of anger, rushed both burglars with no weapon to speak of, and had tackled them and now had them pinned under her in the kitchen. She'd had to repeat the second part four times.

By the time the police arrived, both culprits were tied with panty hose around the leg of her mother's chair. Sakura was crouching in front of the smaller of the two, her eyes narrowed. The police took notice of her desert eagle she had in one had, still loaded with the safety off, and then her dog tags, which hung out of her top and dangled in front of the burglar's face. She stood and put the safety on her desert eagle before sticking it into the back of her shorts. She smiled and held out her hand. "Lt. Commander Haruno Sakura. This is my mother, Sannin Tsunade." she heard noise at the top of the stairs and looked up to see her wide eyed sons at the top of the stairs, she motioned them down and they ran to her, Rori crying. She picked him up, comforting him. Sei glared at the burglars and then up at the police.

"You know mom, this wouldn't have happened if you'd listened to grandma and gotten that big pit bull me and Rori wanted. He'd have eat those jerks alive." the little boy said in a cold voice. Sakura laughed and put her hand on her oldest son's head.

"This is my oldest son, Sei, and my baby, Rori. Their father is currently deployed overseas. I was actually going to meet up with him in D.C. after my divorce was finalized." she heard the curse from the smaller figure and turned her cold emerald eyes to him. "That's right, Sasuke…Gaara's back and when he finds out you beat me, he's going to be really pissed at you." She gave him a wicked smile before she turned her sweet, innocent smile on the police.

"That, gentlemen, is my soon to be ex-husband, Uchiha Sasuke and his accomplice." she didn't really know who the other was, but she had a pretty good idea. Sei walked over to Sasuke and pulled the mask off his face. The black eyed man glared at the boy, who walked over to the other burglar and pulled the mask off that one as well. Sitting on the floor, tied to the table with panty hose, was none other than Uchiha Itachi, attorney at law. Sakura gave a humorless laugh and shook her head.

"When you said that Itachi would help you make sure I was sorry, I never imagined he'd actually help you break into my mother's house and try to steal things. What were you looking for, Sasuke, my briefcase? You should know better than anyone I don't leave that out." she shook her head and then turned emotionless green eyes back to the cops. This was the soldier she'd become.

"Gentlemen, I would like to charge both of them with everything you possibly can, and then some. I can give you all the evidence you need to convict Sasuke of abuse, rape, attempted murder." Sasuke roared with outrage as he tried to get free. She looked down at him, her eyes innocent. "But Sasuke, isn't attempting to shoot your wife out of anger attempted murder? I might not know as much about law as you and Itachi, but I do know that." her eyes slid to her back, where her gun rested and she looked him in the eyes. They were around the same height, about the same weight, but he was clearly stronger than her in a straight fist fight. It was why she'd never been able to fight back when he'd used his strength against her.

"You remember…when I took out my desert eagle and told you to get out? You became angry and rushed me. I was too panicked after the physical and verbal beating you gave me to think straight. You took the gun from me, pointed it at my head, and pulled the trigger. Luckily your aim sucks, because you might actually have killed me had you not shot the crown molding instead." his eyes widened as he realized she was turning this around to where he was the culprit. The cops saw the recognition in his eyes and shook their heads. They went to the two Uchiha's, picked them up, and escorted them out. Sakura didn't even look back. She had things to finish so she could be reunited with Gaara once more.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Chapter 3: Moving Day**

Sakura smiled at her sons as they walked through the airport to their terminal. Both had their carryon bags and backpacks. Sakura watched her mother grab a few things and purchase them before shoving them into her bags. She caught up and smiled at them before looking up at the television. Mugshots of Itachi and Sasuke flashed across the screen and Sakura rolled her eyes thankful that was all over now. She took her sons hands, her mother taking Rori's other hands and they walked to the terminal. Before she walked with her sons and mother onto the plane, she looked back and smirked. "What happens in Texas, stays in Texas." she then walked onto the plane to D.C. and didn't look back again.

She was half asleep with Rori lying in her lap when the stewardess walked up to them and handed Sakura a phone. "It's a Mr. Kakashi for you, Miss Haruno. He says it's urgent." Sakura was instantly awake, though she didn't bolt upright for fear of waking Rori. She took the phone with a thank you and waited for Kakashi to speak.

"Sakura…change in plans. We have to get Gaara out now. There will be a small, private jet waiting for you at your layover. I've already arranged for you and your family to be on it. The remainder of your commercial flight has been refunded and will be presented to you, in check form, when you land." Sakura clicked the phone off and looked at her watch. They were scheduled to land in six minutes. She shook her mother, who had Sei's head nestled against her shoulder. The blonde woke and looked at her daughter, nodding immediately. They had nothing but their carryons, so it wouldn't be any trouble.

Sakura had Rori in her arms, her mother was carrying Sei, which was quite a feat being as he was so tall and lanky like his father. However, both children were sleeping and neither woman wanted them to wake. Sakura quickly made her way through the terminal, her refund check in hand. They made their way out to the landing area and Sakura covered Rori's head with his favorite puppy dog blanket. It was colder here than in Texas. She looked back to see her mother pulling a large black and tan blanket out of her carryon and covering Sei with it. She sighed, hoping neither of her boys woke and started asking questions. It was about three in the morning and they needed to sleep.

They both boarded the small, private jet and sighed tiredly. Sakura took one couch with Rori curled up with her, while Tsunade took the other, pillowing Sei's head in her lap. Sakura watched, through sleepy and worried eyes, as her sons slept and her mother dozed. Repeatedly, her mind went back to the times she'd spent with Gaara, the love they'd shared, and the heartbreak when she'd been told he was never coming back. She could kick Matsuri and Inami for telling her the grisly details of what had happened. They'd wanted her to run and never look back and, like the weakling she was, she did.

Her eyes hardened and she made a promise to herself. Never again would she show such weakness. Never again would she listen to jealous bitches only out for themselves. She covered Rori up and took her carryon bag to the bathroom situated at the back of the plane. She put on her expensive black slacks, her V-neck red blouse and her sleeveless black tactical vest. She used the facial wipes and took a dry bath, ran her fingers through her hair before putting her black hat on and pulled out the military I.D. she'd updated every year, even though she wasn't technically an active agent.

She put a light amount of makeup on and looked herself over. She took a toothbrush and toothpaste out and brushed her teeth. When she was done, she walked out and shook her mother awake. Careful not to wake Sei up, she put his head on one of the pillows provided. She walked over to Rori and picked him up, laying him down with his older brother. The two boys cuddled together and Sakura smiled, thinking of time sin the past when Rori had climbed in bed with his big brother because he was scared and their mommy wasn't home. That thought sobered her and she looked towards the bathroom as her mother came out. Her mother's eyes were guarded.

Sakura shook her head, her eyes determined. "I refuse to go back to the way things were, momma. I've been with my boys too much to take a job that will take me out of their lives." she said fiercely and looked back down at her babies. No matter how old they got, they'd still be her babies. She felt the air pressure in the cabin change and sat down, her mother by her side. It was time to bring her man home.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Chapter 4: Back in Action**

Sakura watched her oldest son stare sleepily out the window while Rori slept on obliviously. Sei had woken as soon as the plane had landed and had been fighting sleep ever since. She'd handed him the facial wipes and a set of clean clothes. He'd hurriedly changed and cleaned up, his crimson hair falling into his eyes a little. Unlike his father, his hair didn't stick up everywhere. It was much more tame…and longer. Rori's hair, however, was as wild and untamed as his father's, sticking up in defiant spikes, no matter how long it grew. Sakura had finally given him a haircut a few months ago, because he'd complained his head was starting to hurt. She'd hoped the spikes would lay down if she let them grow long enough, but they never did…just like Gaara's.

She was getting antsy now, the closer they got to HQ. She knew Kakashi would be there to meet her…along with the rest of the team. She bared her teeth at the thought of seeing Matsuri and Inami again. She'd make sure to let them know exactly what she thought of them lying to her. Sei seemed to notice his mother's inner turmoil because, for the first time since he'd turned thirteen, he put his head in his mother's lap. Her eyes widened and she looked down at him. Rori's head was on one thigh and Sei's was on the other. Sakura smiled and stroked their hair, taking in the differences in length and texture.

Sei's hair was fine and silkly, like hers, whereas Rori's was thick and feathery soft, like Gaara's. She closed her eyes and waited for their car to arrive at HQ. As she waited, she thought about the numerous positions that were still open to her. She could no longer be a field agent, not with her children. But she could take up a desk job, like Shika had when he'd returned. Gaara was the only one that didn't have a desk job that was in their platoon. She knew he'd have one reserved for him when he returned and was able to work again. He was too valuable…in many ways…to let him go.

Sakura felt the car slowing down and then stop. She heard their driver get out and open the door for her. She gently woke her children and the four of them made their way to the large white building before them. Sakura held her children's hands, Sei nervously gripping her hand and Rori clutching to her in pure fright. At the door, the doorman scared Rori, who started crying, and Sakura had to pick him up. He buried his face in his mother's waist length pink hair and sniffled. She looked at the doorman and smiled gently. "It's good to see you again, Shino." she said quietly. She didn't know why Shino was here, but she was sure it wasn't because that was his job. As soon as the four of them were in, she noticed Shino disappear. She shook her head and rubbed Rori's back. Sei held onto her vest, not sure of what to do.

Someone bustled down the stairs and greeted them, much to Sei's disgust. It was an annoyingly loud blonde girl with faded brown eyes. She looked really nervous to see his mom. He glared at her. She was shoved aside by another blonde female with bright baby blue eyes. "Move it heifer…best friend coming through!" the blonde sniffed and then ushered Sakura and her small family up the stairs. Sei like this girl already. He looked back and narrowed his light emerald eyes on the girl, who gasped and blushed. He gave a disgusted grunt and kept a hold tight of his mother. He really didn't like that girl.

Sakura noticed Sei's distaste for the girl and chuckled. "I see Gaara's not the only man in my life that has an extreme distaste for Inami." he looked up at him mom and shook his head.

"She blushed at me. Do I look that much like dad?" he was torn between wanting her to say yes and wanting her to say no. She smirked and ruffled his hair.

"You got a lot of your dad's good qualities, but you are Sei…not Gaara. Your dad is the strong silent type, just like you, and he's an incredibly good judge of character. You get that from him too. Your temper, however, comes from me, my dear. As well as your sharp tongue and sarcastic personality. You are built like Gaara, however. That's probably why she was dumbstruck when we walked in. For her, who has no idea who you are and is dumb as they come, it would be hard not to see the differences between you two. Don't worry though…most of the people around here aren't that stupid."

"That's why she's regulated to getting people coffee." came a sharp voice that had Sakura turning with a grin. Standing there was her best friend from basics, Shikamaru. Sakura waved at him and looked down at Rori, who had fallen asleep while she held him.

"I'd give you a hug, but my son fell asleep after Shino terrified him." Shikamaru shook his head and sighed.

"Hugging is overrated. You and my wife would get along great…you both are hugging types." he said, as if it was distasteful to him. Sakura laughed and then cocked her head.

"When did you get married?" Shikamaru looked at his hand, where his wedding band was. Even after all this time, it still felt weird for him.

"Three years after you brought me home. I met her at the recovery ward. She is a POW/MIA advocate. She does public speaking, encouraging people not to give up hope on our POWs and MIAs." Sakura smiled, though it was a little strained. That was about the same time she'd come in and Matsuri had stopped her, saying that what they'd found was too harsh for her. When Sakura had insisted on entering, she'd callously described how Gaara's body had been found in a mass grave and how his once beautiful crimson hair was in patches where rats had eaten away at it. Inami had nodded, also up for some good gossip.

Sakura closed her eyes and fought the pain. It was all a lie…that wasn't the truth. Gaara was alive and she was going to get him. Sakura opened her eyes and found Shikamaru looking at her, his eyes worried. She tried to downplay it, but he knew better. "Sakura, I've know you since we were in diapers. What was with that look?" Sakura cleared her throat and stuttered a bit, but she knew she couldn't lie to Shika, so she handed her mother Rori, who whined a little, and told Sei to help his grandmother find a vending machine with granola bars. Sei nodded, understanding that his mom didn't want him or his grandma to hear this.

When Sakura was sure that they were out of earshot, she told Shikamaru everything. How she'd gotten pregnant while still an active agent, why she'd taken the eleven months off, how she'd come back, only to find out four years later she was pregnant again, how the kid caught in the cross fire had affected her, how she'd turned in her resignation and disappeared, how she'd seen the television broadcast and waited for the phone call, the six mile run into town, the fact she'd flow straight from Minnesota to D.C. non stop and then got on the first carrier out to find them, how she'd been devastated when they'd found everyone but Gaara, and how she'd showed up, two years ago, trying to find out if they ever found Gaara. She clammed up at that.

She noticed his eyes narrow, but she didn't have to tell him what had happened. He knew. "And you were greeted with Matsuri and Inami feeding you all kinds of lies, weren't you? I thought I heard Choji say he'd seen you on the monitors." she sighed and nodded, not needing to relive what they told her. She looked up and her eyes said everything. Shikamaru sighed and sat in the chair across from hers, his eyes angry. "Stupid bitches…they always were jealous of you. They couldn't hack it as real agents, so they decided to become military secretaries. I wish you'd come to one of us Sakura. We were making headway, even then. We'd tracked him to a location several times, but they always seemed to move him before we got there. We've got them pinned down this time, between the our forces and the Israeli forces. They can't move, so it's the best time to put our plan in action. It's why Kakashi called you here."

Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at him, her eyes serious. "I can't lose him, Shika. I've put up with a lot because I thought I'd never have him back. I just got divorced from a man that beat and degraded me in front of my children. I can't…" she shook her head and dabbed at her eyes once more. She blew her nose and excused herself to the bathroom to wash her face and hands. She came back to see Shika talking to a blonde woman with navy blue eyes. She noticed the woman kiss him and he blushed, telling her not to do that at work. Sakura smirked and snuck up on them.

"So, Shika, who's your friend?" she asked innocently. She noticed the ex-special forces radio man nearly jump out of his skin. He turned to her with a blush and was stuttering. Sakura laughed and held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm-" she was cut off by yelling. It was Sei, who was chasing after Rori, who had two granola bars and was giggling as he ran towards her.

"MOMMY!" the little eight year old screamed and barreled into her. Sei stopped a little ways away, his hands on his knees and panting.

"Momma, Rori took off with the granola as soon as grandma bought them. He ate his and has mine and yours!" her oldest son whined. Sakura laughed and picked her youngest son up and took a bite from the granola bar in his hand.

"Rori, what did I tell you about sharing?" Rori looked at his brother, then at Sakura, his eyes becoming big and watery.

"But I wanted to give mommy her granola first!" he said tearfully. Sei just sighed and ruffled his kid brother's hair.

"It's alright Rori, just give me my granola and I'm sure momma will let you feed her hers. She needs help anyway, since she's got her hands full." Rori's face brightened and he handed his big brother his granola. Sei was about to walk away when he noticed the blonde that had been talking to his mother staring at him, like she'd seen a ghost. He rolled his eyes and pointed at her nonchalantly.

"Is that another one that had some weird crush on dad?" he asked, as if this were a common occurrence. Sakura's eyes widened and she looked at the blonde, whose mouth was wide open.

"D-dad!?" she exclaimed, looking from Sakura to the boy and back. Sakura arched a brow and put her hand on her hip.

"Yes, the father of my children is Gaara…what's so surprising about that?" the blonde looked fit to be tied. She finally exploded when Shikamaru touched her.

"That good for nothing, closed lipped, raccoon eyed, PANDA!" she screamed and stomped her foot. Sakura looked surprised and both her kids looked frightened. Rori was hiding his face in Sakura's hair, a sniffle starting. Sei looked shocked that this girl would say such things about his dad in front of his mom. Sakura, for her part, was dumbfounded.

However, the only thing she could say when her mouth started working again was "Panda?" the blonde was fuming until she saw the dumbfounded expression on Sakura's face.

"OH! I'm so sorry! You have no idea who I am and I just went on ranting!" she blushed and bowed before offering her hand with a smiled.

"I'm Temari. Temari Nara. Gaara is my baby brother." it was Sakura's turn to be floored. She stared at Temari, who was just smiling.

"He…he never told me…he had…siblings…" Sakura said and looked at Shikamaru, who just arched a brow and shrugged. Temari sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Truth be told, Gaara was never close to me or to our brother, Kankuro. Our father created a rift between us pretty early in life. It was only after coming back from basic that he even acknowledge us as family. He said he'd had enough of our father controlling our lives." Sakura gasped and took a step back.

"He…he said that? Those exact words?" Temari looked at her and nodded, a smile on her face.

"I don't know what changed his mind, but it was nice having my little brother back. Kankuro is only two years younger than me, Gaara is five years younger." Sakura hugged Rori to her, who nuzzled her neck and whimpered to her. She closed her eyes and smiled.

"So he did listen…" she said quietly, though it seemed both Shikamaru and Temari heard, because Temari made a questioning noise and Shikamaru arched a brow. Sakura smiled and rubbed Rori's back, soothing him.

"When Gaara and I were first starting to get close, I asked him if he hand any family. He told me that he didn't have any family worth mentioning. I told him that all family is important and he told me how his dad was constantly controlling every aspect of his life. I told him that sooner or later, he'd get tired of his father controlling his life. I had no idea he'd been talking about his relationship with his siblings." It was then that there was a shout.

"We need everyone here for the tactical meeting! Nara! Where are you dammit!" Sakura's eyes darkened and she put Rori on his feet and looked at Sei.

"Hold your brother's hand and both of you stay here. Mommy's going to clean up the workplace." Sakura's eyes frosted over and Shikamaru flinched, hiding behind his wife.

"Oh no…the femme fatale is back in action…" he muttered and waited for the screams of pain to start. Sakura walked around the edge of a cubical. They all heard what happened next.

"Oh, hey Sakura, when did you-" it was cut off by the obvious sound of a boot in the face as Sakura hissed something about cleaning up their language while she was here.

A few minutes later, a door was slammed open and chaos erupted. The person who'd cursed stuck his head around the wall and they could see the bright red boot print on the side of his face. His black eyes and brunette hair contrasted with what seemed to be a heavy blush on his cheeks, however, it was obvious they were some kind of birthmark as he walked up to them. He didn't even seem to notice the kids.

"What the hell has gotten into Sakura?" there was a shout and he was knocked over again, this time by a busty blonde with a nametag that said Tsunade. She stood over the brunette and glared.

"As long as you are in presence of my grandsons, you will not speak in such a manner, you hear me?" she growled and started pushing the two boys towards where their mother had gone. Shikamaru just sighed.

"So…that's where Sakura's violent temper came from." he sighed again and shook his head before offering his hand to the brunette on the floor. "You okay, Kiba?" the brunette was groaning and holding his face. The blonde with light blue eyes sighed and helped him up.

"She's not even back for twenty minutes and you've already pissed the Lt. off." everyone looked at her and she smirked, her eyes knowing. "That's right people. The Lt. is back and ready for action." they all groaned and several prayed they wouldn't be on the receiving end of her anger.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Oh, just in case you're wondering, the Inami in this story isn't the Inami in the Naruto world. I didn't even realize there was a girl named Inami until Sis said 'isn't that the one kid's mom's name?' I had to check and yes, it's a lady from the Naruto Bridge episode, but I had forgotten, so yeah. Anyways, in case you were thinking 'geeze, Habit-chan really hates Matsuri', that's not the case. She's just the number one other female character that seems to vie for Gaara's affections. I don't really like her either...reminds me of someone who'd do anything to get what she wants. her personality is based off someone I went to school with. DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Chapter 5: Don't Mess With Momma**

Sei arched a brow at the obvious path of destruction that was left in his mother's wake. He'd never known this side of his mom, even when she'd come home every two months for the first four years of his life. She'd always been sweet, kind, and happy. Until that one day, two years ago, when she'd come home and curled up with him and Rori and cried like Rori did when he was hurt. He'd made a vow to himself then…he'd never let anyone else hurt his mom. Ever. He'd done pretty good, until Sasuke had come along and ruined everything. He'd watched his mom fall for the backstabbing snake and had been unable to do anything about it. He remembered the gunshot he'd heard the night his mom had kicked Sasuke out. He'd gotten what he deserved.

He walked in front of his grandma, Rori's hand in his, and walked to a large officer with blinds that seemed to be in disarray at the moment. He then heard his mother yelling. "And lastly, if I hear any, and I mean ANY cursing while I am here, and I will PERSONALLY dislocate your jaws for you, understood?" he walked until he and his brother were framed in the doorway as his mother appeared to be eight feet tall and pissed. His eyes widened and he smirked…his mom could handle herself. She then snorted and turned, her eyes lighting on them. Her entire demeanor instantly changed.

"Hey, why don't you guys come on in so I can introduce you to everyone." Rori ran to her, immediately clutching at her. She picked him up and kissed his forehead and he put his head on her shoulder, hiding in her hair. Sei made his way over to her a little more slowly. While they'd followed his mother's warpath, he'd pulled his beanie out of his pocket and put it on his head. His hair hung down in his eyes, hiding them as he observed everyone in the room while they only saw hair. He walked over to his mom and rested his head on her lightly, not wanting to seem to clingy, but definitely not comfortable with this.

"Everyone, these are my sons Sei and Rori." she touched each of them reassuringly as she introduced them. Sei noticed the man with silver hair regarding him and he clenched his teeth. That was the guy that always took his mom away from him when he was growing up. Sei swept his hair aside and openly glared at the man, who seemed shocked.

"Sakura, that boy has to be at least thirteen or fourteen years old! I thought you didn't have any kids until-" Sakura halted him with a sigh.

"The eleven months I requested off were because I was pregnant with Sei. He's also why I left D.C. every two months when I was home. I didn't want him to grow up thinking I didn't love him." The man shook his head and glared at Sakura.

"Sakura, you know the rules here. You are taken out of the field when something like this happens. Why didn't you tell me!?" he demanded, but it was Sei that jumped to her defense.

"Because my mom wants to protect us and grandma and everyone else! She has given everyone here everything she is and people like you just come around and make her cry! All you people _ever _do is make her cry! You with your random gifts and never visiting her! All of you! You're just as bad as those girls that told momma that dad was dead! LEAVE MY MOMMA ALONE!" he screamed and threw his beanie at the man. Everyone there was shocked, including Sakura and Tsunade. Rori started crying again and there were unshed tears in Sei's eyes. He was so mad he was nearly crying. Sakura handed Rori to her mother, who sat down and rocked him. Sakura knelt down and looked at Sei, who couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Baby…how do you know about the girls who told me Gaara was dead?" Tears streamed down the boy's face as he looked at him mom.

"We were walking to the vending machines when I heard someone talking about how Matsuri and Inami had driven away the infamous LT. Dread, Sakura Haruno." he clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly. "I hate it when you cry momma…I can't stand it because I know I can't protect you from it!" he whispered until she pulled him to her. She smiled gently at him and stroked his hair.

"Baby, baby, it's not your responsibility to take care of me. I'm the one that should be taking care of you." she pulled his face so that she could look at it and she smiled at him, kissing his forehead. She whispered to him a little more and then wiped his tears away. Everyone watched the once highly feared Lt. Commander comfort her fourteen year old son. She didn't seem nearly as cruel now. The rough voice of the silver haired man caught their attention as he pressed a button and talked into it.

"Temari, find Inami and Matsuri and send them to me please." Kakashi looked at the young boy that looked so much like Gaara and sighed.

"You're right, Sei. We haven't been treating your mom like we should have. She is, after all, one of us." he smiled and stood, straightening things up. "Why don't we go to my office and discuss this further. I'm sure there are some things that need to be discussed before our…company…arrives." he looked back at the others present and arched a brow. "I want this room spotless by the time I come back. Hinata, you're in charge." the black haired girl nodded and went about helping to clean up.

Sakura, Sei, Rori and Tsunade made their way to Kakashi's office. Once there, he sighed and sat down on the couch. He smiled and put his hand against the side of his head. "Long time no see, huh ma?" Tsunade scowled at him and threw a granola bar at his head.

"You know down to the second how long it's been since you visited me you brat! After I left your father, you broke off all contact with me!" Sakura sighed and tried to diffuse the situation.

"Mom, Kakashi…please…don't fight in front of my children…" she took Rori and went to sit on the biggest couch so both her sons could sit with her. Rori snuggled up under her left side while Sei curled up under her right shoulder and leaned against her. He watched his grandma and the silver haired man interact. Apparently, this man was his mother's step brother…and his uncle.

"Nice of you to visit us more than your own mother, _Uncle_ Kakashi." He said sarcastically, but hushed when his mother told him to stop picking fights. The man regarded him and then sighed, putting his hands between his knees and rubbing them together.

"Mom, you know dad didn't want me having anything to do with you. He even sent me to military school in another country to keep me away from you. By the time I got out, you were remarried, had Sakura, and was happy. I didn't want to mess with that." he sighed and shook his head, looking at Sakura and grinning.

"Though I have to say, when Sakura showed up at basic I was shocked. You'd said you'd never let one of your kids go into the military if you could help it." there was a snort and Sakura smirked.

"She couldn't. I signed up as soon as I was 18. By then, I was old enough to do it without her consent. You know as well as I do that I wanted to protect people with the gifts God had given me." Kakashi snorted, but nodded all the same.

"Yeah…your cool head in the heat of battle has saved our platoon many times. I wish more of my agents were like you. If they were, perhaps we wouldn't be here." that stung, despite it being a compliment. However, she said nothing and let him continue. "Regardless, the reason I had you come here so quickly is because we've narrowed Gaara's location down to one place." he gave her a look that said this wasn't going to be good. She steeled herself for it. "It's a small but heavily guarded sanitarium outside the small village of Balandalesh." Sakura gasped and put her hand to her mouth. He nodded and pulled a file off his desk. He handed it to her and she looked through it before giving it back to him. She shook her head.

"Some of that data is wrong. Balanadalesh isn't that close to the mountains, so there would be no use to dropping us there. Also, there's a lot of insurgent activity in the mountains. If we landed in the middle of a camp, we'd be needing a rescue, along with Gaara." she pointed out the many mistakes as to why the plan they had was crap, why it wouldn't work, and some rather stupid loopholes that hadn't been thoroughly researched. Kakashi was sweat dropping by the time she was finished.

"Okay, so maybe if the intelligence gathered was actually intelligent, we wouldn't be in this situation…" he said and sighed, looking at her. "This is why we need you Sakura…so things like this don't happen to other people. Gaara's strong enough to handle it. Some of the others wouldn't have survived if you hadn't brought them back." Sakura sighed and looked at her kids. She then looked at Kakashi, her eyes sharp.

"Tell you what. You let me talk it over with my boys and maybe, MAYBE, I'll come back and work as your tactician." he looked hopeful and nodded. It was Sei that added in his own say.

"No field work. If my momma gets shot, I'm going to hold you responsible." he glared at the man, who held up his hands in agreement. Rori lifted his head, tears in his eyes.

"Does this mean mommy's not going to be there to tuck us into bed?" Sakura smiled and kissed his forehead.

"No baby. This just means that while you and Sei are at school, mommy is helping people be safe." Rori nodded and put his head back on her shoulder, not so sure that this was a good thing. It was Tsunade that put her finger in Kakashi's face and ticked things off.

"Number 1, she gets weekends off to spend with the boys. If you need her, call, but only if it's an emergency. Number 2, she gets to see her boys onto the bus and is home by five, at the latest. Number 3, she will not be sent anywhere she can't get back to her boys quickly. Number 4, she can bring the boys with her if she needs to. Those are the only way you will get to have her work for you. And those are non-negotiable. We'll discuss the negotiable things after the briefing." Tsunade watched her son's wide eyes until he sighed and nodded.

"I'll make sure those things happen." he said and stood. He looked at Sei, who just stared back at him. He smirked and walked over to his desk. "Your mom told me you'd be having a birthday soon. She also told me she was moving, so I stopped this from leaving the D.C. area. I'd like to give it to you in person, if you'll accept it." Sei gave him a look and then reached out hesitantly and took the gift with a quiet thank you. It was heavier than he thought it would be. He opened it and stared with wide eyes at the small, custom built laptop that was inside a hard case. He looked up at Kakashi, who smiled.

"Your mom told me you like music and that you're pretty good with electronics. Perhaps when you grow up, I'll hire you to keep people safe as well." he cringed and held up his hands as Sakura advanced on him. "From a safe distance of course." Sei laughed and nodded to Kakashi and hugged his mom.

"It's alright mom. Uncle Kashi's got a long wait ahead of him." Sakura laughed at her son and smiled at everyone else. Kakakshi seemed genuinely happy for once and Rori, well, Rori fell asleep…again.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: AHHHH...innocence...DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Chapter 6: Coffee Anyone?**

By the time they made it back to the conference room, it was clean and they were waiting on Inami and Matsuri. Sakura, Tsunade and the boys made themselves comfortable on one of the sofas in the corner, out of sight from the door. They heard several people whispering and then there was the clatter of a cart. "C-coffee anyone?" came that all too familiar voice. Sakura knew that Inami was nervous, and she knew why. If anyone caught wind of what Inami had told her, there'd be hell to pay. Too bad Sei'd already told everyone in the room about her nasty little secret.

Sei was sitting on the couch, fiddling with his new laptop. He wouldn't let anyone see what he was doing, but she had a feeling it was something that would later incite chaos. She shook her head and let him be. She noticed, after several minutes, that Sei had closed his laptop and was now talking to Rori, who had wide eyes as he listened to his brother. When things got a little settled Sakura prepared to make her move, but Rori getting up and walking around the corner shocked her. She watched as her baby walked up to Inami and pulled on her pants leg.

Inami looked down and gasped, dropping the sugar packets she was holding. He looked up at her, his large, tear filled emerald eyes catching her, freezing her in place. He looked like he was about to cry. "Are…are you the lady that told mommy that daddy was dead?" he asked, sniffling. A tear fell and Inami blanched. Her lower lip trembled and she backed away from him, but he followed, asking her the question again. She burst into tears and ran out, throwing her I.D. into Kakashi's office as she went. Sakura was shocked and her son was standing there, crying. Sakura looked over at Sei, but he seemed just as startled as Sakura. He looked at his mom and they said the same thing at the same time.

"I thought he was sleeping!" Tsunade shook her head and walked over to the eight year old, picking him up and walking to the couch again. She cradled him and rocked him until he was asleep. She then laid him down on the couch and rubbed his back to keep him asleep. Sakura walked over to a dark corner of the room and watched as a projector screen slowly descended from the ceiling. Sei watched the projector and noticed it was like the one at his school. This gave him an idea. He walked up to Kakashi and whispered to him. Kakashi had arched a brow and then gave him the laser pointer he'd asked for.

Sakura had just shook her head and watched as things proceeded. The lights had gone off and the projector screen was now white. They were waiting for their 'intelligence officer' to get there. When the door opened, Sakura could have burst a vein from laughing so hard. Their so called intelligence officer was none other than Matsuri. She opened the door and walked in, trying to be sexy and failing. It was all Sakura could do not to laugh.

She waited for the presentation to start and watched it closely. Through the entire thing, she was scoffing at the laziness this briefing displayed. It proved that when you have half assed intelligence gathering, you have disastrous missions. At the end, Matsuri made the mistake of asking if there were any questions. Sakura raised her hand, though she was sure Matsuri would never recognize her. When Matsuri pointed to her, Sakura tried to sound more professional than amused, though it was hard not to laugh.

"What makes you think that any of this is correct?" she asked Matsuri, who blushed violently and gave her a glare.

"My team and I put a lot of work into gathering this intelligence." she said in a voice that suggested she was trying to know what she was talking about. Sakura smirked, and made sure it was visible.

"My eight year old could gather better intelligence than this." she scoffed and continued to pick apart the entire plan, just like she had in Kakashi's office. It was hard for Kakashi not to laugh as he watched Matsuri turn redder and redder with each passing second. Finally, Sakura was done and put her hands up with a shrug.

"No wonder the rescue missions keep failing if this is the kind of 'intelligence' that's provided. Poor Gaara." Matsuri turned even redder, if it were possible, and finally exploded.

"What would a snot nosed brat new recruit like you know about anything that goes on in this agency!?" everyone went still as Sakura stood to her full height, still not letting Matsuri see her face.

"I was standing here, thinking the same thing about you." she was about to say more, but suddenly the presentation wavered and something else started playing on the projector screen. It was the back of Sakura's head, her long pink hair making her unmistakable. Before her was Matsuri, who told her she wasn't allowed to enter. Matsuri gasped and tried to end the feed, but it didn't flicker. What happened next, floored everyone. They heard, very clearly, what Matsuri was saying to Sakura.

"Don't think you can disappear for so long and then come back and pick up right where you left off! Things have changed since you walked out on us! _We've_ changed. Because of you, Gaara is dead." they heard Sakura gasp and look at Inami, who just nodded, her eyes closed. They heard a sob escape Sakura's image. "That's right…cry when it's too late to help him! Because of you, he ended up in a mass grave like some common animal. His body reflecting the evidence of his torture…his beautiful crimson hair in patches where rats had eaten away at it. And you know who's to blame? YOU! Because you left!" Sakura's image turned and ran, tears evident in her eyes.

When Sakura's image was gone, Inami spoke up. "Matsuri, you just lied to the Lt. Aren't you afraid someone will tell?" Matsuri smirked and put her hand on her hip.

"I have a friend in security that's going to get rid of the evidence. No one will ever find out that I lied to her. She'll disappear again and we will never have to worry about Gaara paying attention to her again." she seemed so smug that the real Sakura snapped her teeth angrily. When she did, the feed was cut off and Matsuri's failed plan was on the screen again. The room was quiet until the light was suddenly flicked on. When Matsuri recovered, she looked around. The person that had torn apart her plan was standing against the back wall, their features hidden. All Matsuri could really see was the sadistic smile.

"Before that little show, you made a comment. I've stood through the entire briefing of your plan and through that and wondered the same thing about you Matsuri. What _do _you really know about what this agency is and does? You've never been a field officer…you were a military secretary on a base in southern Georgia before you got transferred here as, big surprise here, a secretary. So, answer me this…what makes a military secretary with no field experience and no combat experience think she is more capable of coming up with safe, _plausible_ strategies than a frontline veteran with over sixteen hundred hours of combat training and over eight _years _of field experience?" it was then that Sakura lifted her head, her emerald eyes glowing menacingly.

Matsuri gasped and stumbled backwards, almost falling. She stared at Sakura, terrified. "Didn't think you'd ever see me again, huh Matsuri? Didn't think I'd find out you'd lied to me? Kakashi kept me briefed to Gaara's status, but when I came in to check myself, you intervened. I was vulnerable then, but you made a mistake Matsuri. You underestimated my love for Gaara." Sakura stalked the brunette, who whimpered and tried to scoot away from her. Sakura reached out her hand and suddenly, two little boys appeared. Both looked like Gaara. Matsuri protested.

"Children are not permitted here…you know that Sakura!" Sakura growled low in her throat at the other woman and pulled out her dog tags.

"That's Lt. Commander to you, Matsuri. I may not have been an active agent, but I never withdrew from the military. I've been on lockdown ever since Gaara disappeared. I'm not allowed to leave the country unless I have signed orders. Do you know why, Matsuri?" she asked, her eyes wild. The brunette shook her head.

"Because everyone knows I'd take apart the middle east looking for the father of my children." she said dangerously. Matsuri's eyes widened as she looked at the two boys before here. They were Gaara's sons? Matsuri's eyes widened and she looked at Sakura, who had her teeth clenched.

"You want to know why I reacted to your little lie the way I did? Because I had to drive home and tell my six and twelve year old sons that their dad had died at the hands of monsters. And you know what? I couldn't do it. I could not look into their faces and tell them the horrible things you told me. I didn't want to see the sadness and pain you caused me in the eyes of my babies. I'm not sick and twisted like you, Matsuri. I don't hurt people randomly…especially not allies." she turned away and looked at Naruto, who nodded and grabbed Matsuri by the arm. The girl winced at his tight hold, but didn't fight as she was led away, awaiting her court-martial. With that, Sakura sighed and looked at her sons, both of which looked up at her with trusting eyes.

She knelt beside them and smiled. "Okay boys…mommy is going to show these guys how best to save daddy. Why don't you and grandma let Miss Temari take you somewhere you can get real food and so Rori can take a bath?" she smiled at them and they smiled back hugging her. She let their love soak into her and vowed to bring Gaara back, no matter what.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Chapter 7: Highway to Hell**

Sakura looked at her watch. Her boys would be waking up to find her letter right about now. Her mother would be livid, but she refused to sit in that building, knowing that the love of her life was sitting in a sanitarium in a village known for cruelty. Her unit synchronized their watches and they started jumping out, one by one. Once they were on the ground, they moved quickly. They were lucky that Sakura had known about the eclipse. They were able to jump under the cover of semi-darkness. She crouched low, pulling on the masks of her troops. They looked at her, each and every one. Naruto's blue eyes were serious for the first time all day. Shikamaru's dark olive eyes narrowed as he picked things up. Neji paid close attention as Sakura went over the plan silently one more time. Kiba and Sai were the lookouts.

With a nod, Naruto, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Neji rushed over the short span of desert between them and the sanitarium. They pressed against it and waited for Sai and Kiba to follow them. They managed to take the front entrance guards without much noise. However, once they were in the sanitarium, all hell broke loose. Sakura went through the guards, viciously cutting them all down. Anyone that tried to keep her away from the room they'd determined Gaara to be in was cut down quickly.

She made it to the door and carefully listened. Inside, she heard two jailers talking rapidly and then there'd be a grunt. Sakura heard the distinct sound of a battery and she saw red. They were torturing him. Without even thinking of what she was doing, Sakura stuck plastic explosives to the door and stepped away. She blew the door and rushed inside, her desert eagle and her pack knife drawn. When she stepped inside, it was to see the door had taken care of the guards. Her heart stopped when she noticed the dirty red hair of their captive. He was covered in old scars and new wounds. His eyes were barely open and he had something shoved in his mouth…it looked like a stick.

Sakura rushed to him, checking his vitals and untying him. He looked up at her with glassy eyes and when she pulled the stick out, a single, dazed word came from his mouth. "Sakura…" It was the last thing he said before he passed out. Sakura had called her unit together in that room and told them to get Gaara out of there. Shikamaru was worried as he saw that look in her eyes. The one that said someone was going to pay. However, he didn't question her orders, he just did what he was told.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: NYAAAAAHHHHH! DO NOT OWN NARUTO! This Habit-chan has had too much sugar...**

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**Chapter 8: A Little More Time**

Gaara opened his bleary eyes and looked around. He was in a white room, not his grey-stone prison. There were no guards, no 'doctors' and no stench. It smelled clean and sterile. She groaned and tried to shift, but found he couldn't. He looked down and noticed he had an I.V. in his arm and could feel an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. He tried to stay awake, but he was just too tired. He feel back asleep, wondering if what he'd seen was real.

Several hours after he woke up the first time, he woke up again. This time, it was because someone was in the room with him. He opened his eyes and found Kakashi, who was sitting beside his bed. Gaara felt much better than he did and sat up, taking the mask off and rubbing his head. "Where am I?" he asked, dazed. Kakashi smirked and put his chin in his hand.

"Isn't it obvious, Gaara? You're back at HQ." Gaara grunted and sighed. There were so many questions he wanted answered.

"How'd I get here?" Kakashi smirked and leaned back, enjoying their little chat.

"Sakura. We found your location, but she pinpointed you." Gaara nodded. Perhaps he hadn't been seeing things when he'd opened his eyes and seen Sakura standing above him. He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. He noticed most of his wounds were healed.

"How long have I been here?" Kakashi knew what that really meant. 'How long have I been out' was really what the red head was asking. Kakashi looked at his watched and sighed.

"An agonizing six weeks. Sakura was adamant you recover completely before we were allowed to 'pester' you." Gaara's eyes were wide and he rubbed his head.

"Where's Sakura?" he noticed how Kakashi's eyes suddenly became guarded and he shrugged.

"Probably in the cafeteria with her mother. Her mother really tore into her for leaving without a word to rescue you. And the fact that she hunted down the ones that captured you and kept you there. I hear that she has a higher body count than you do now." this pulled Gaara's attention away from Kakashi's strange behavior.

"By how many?" Kakashi smirked and looked at his nails.

"Oh, around six hundred or so. She didn't come back with the rest of you. She stayed for a few days. I had to send Naruto back out there to bring her in. Come to find out, the brave wench was using a sniper on far away targets and that Desert Eagle you gave her on people that got too close. Quite a vengeful little thing she is." Kakashi laughed and sat his newspaper down and looked at Gaara. "You're going to have to talk to her, and soon. She'd been worried sick about you." Gaara nodded and glanced at the newspaper. Something caught his eye, but he said nothing, just waited for Kakashi to leave.

When the older man was gone, Gaara picked up the news paper and read the article on the back. In big black letters it stated 'Uchiha Sasuke Found Guilty of Trying to Kill Wife'. A picture of Sakura was on the opposite side of the article from the man. Gaara just stared, unable to believe _his _Sakura had married another man. This was going to take some time for him to process.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: THE BIG TEARJERKER! DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Chapter 9: Bleeding Love**

Sakura was not hungry. She'd lost control of herself and the result had been the complete and utter destruction of the insurgent camp responsible for Gaara's detainment. She sighed and pushed her plate away. Her mother looked at her, then back at the children. They were still upset with their mother for leaving, but the promise of getting to meet their father today had softened them towards her significantly. Sakura smiled a fake smile and stood. "I'm going to see Kakashi. I don't know if Gaara's awake or not yet." Tsunade nodded and watched her leave.

On her way to Kakashi's office, she noticed that Gaara's room was open. She cocked her head and walked over to it. She looked in and found Gaara putting his pants on. She shook her head and leaned against the door frame. When he turned and found her there, his eyes became guarded. She wondered why.

"So, I hear you raised your body count to even higher than mine. Congrats." Sakura narrowed her eyes on him and then looked away.

"I was angry." she said, looking at his hands instead. He had something clutched in one fist. "What's that?" she asked curiously. Gaara looked at it and then at her, his eyes going cold.

"Some interesting reading material. You should see it." he threw it on the bed and reached for his shoes. He put them on and laced them up. Sakura still hadn't moved.

"Interesting, huh? Since when did you find anything the media had to say interesting?" She was getting really suspicious by now. Something wasn't right.

"Yeah. There's this article on the back. Big headliner from a few months ago apparently. Apparently, a man was found guilty for trying to kill his _wife_." Sakura noticed how he said the word wife and looked at the article. She saw her picture, along with Sasuke's. She scowled.

"Hn. Well I'll just have to call the press and inform them of the mistype." she noticed the surprise in his eyes. "I'm divorced." as soon as the words left her mouth, he made an awful face at her. One he'd never shown to anyone but those he hated.

"Divorced, huh? What about the kids they talked about in the article. Where are they?" Sakura's eyes frosted over as she stared at him. She knew he upset and acting on limited knowledge. She walked into the room and pushed the door too as much as she could without closing it. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.

"Gaara, what the hell is wrong with you?" she asked, knowing he was going to need to blow off some steam. He glared at her and smacked the newspaper with his hand.

"This! You went and got married while I was rotting in a cell in the middle east!" Sakura's eyes flashed dangerously and she took a step towards him.

"What do you expect of me Gaara!? They told me you were dead!" she hissed at him. Gaara got up in her face then.

"You were here, you knew my status!" before she could retort, he circled her asking more and more questions. "Did he fuck you like I did? Did you enjoy him like you did me? Did you beg him-" he was cut off when Sakura reached out and smacked him…hard. He looked at her and found tears of pain and shame in her eyes. He just stared at her while she unloaded years of pain.

"I wasn't here to keep track of your status, Gaara! I was with my mother, just like I was when I resigned and told you where to find me! Four years went by before I heard anything from the agency, and even then, all they said was that you and the others had been captured. I _ran _six miles to the nearest town from my mother's house in _Minnesota_ to contact them to come pick me up. When I found the others, but you weren't there, I was heartbroken. I went back to my mothers, thinking everyone would keep me posted on your status. Two years passed and I finally had to drag my ass to D.C. only to be confronted by your little fan club and be told you'd been found in a mass grave and that you'd died a gruesome death!" she screamed, tears of anger and pain falling down her face. She backed away from him and shook her head.

"I sunk into a depression so miserable that my mother had to take care of me like I was six all over again." She said in a shameful voice. She looked up and he could see the truth in her eyes. Like him, she'd suffered these last few years. "I tried dating, but no one ever compared to you. And then I met that silver tongued blackheart, Uchiha Sasuke." she pointed at the newspaper like it was evil.

"I married him to try and fill the void created when I thought you were dead. But he lied to me, cheated on me, beat me, degraded me in front of my kids, he…he raped me repeatedly…" she looked up at him and he felt the need to comfort her. "Not once in the eight years I was in the Agency did you ever tell me you loved me. I've waited for you to say that for fourteen years…and now you come here and make these…hideous accusations…" tears fell down her face as she stumbled to the door. She tried to open it, but her legs gave out and she fell, her eyes so full of tears she couldn't even see straight. She let out a sob and the sound of running feet met his ears.

Suddenly, the door burst open and two smaller figures were instantly all over Sakura. "MOMMY!" the smallest one screamed and started crying. The taller, older looking figure looked up at him with angry green eyes.

"What did you do to my mom!?" the boy stood and put his small body between Sakura and Gaara. "What did you do to her!?" he screamed again and glared at him with so much anger that Gaara couldn't even speak. There was a younger, smaller version of him standing there, screaming at him, and calling Sakura 'mom'. The kid had to be at least thirteen, maybe fourteen years old. That would mean…

Gaara stared at the two boys, dumbfounded. Sakura just continued to cry. The smaller boy looked up with pitiful eyes at his older brother. "Sei, why's mommy crying? I thought she was happy daddy was back…" this made Gaara's eyes widen and his knees buckled. They knew he was their father? Why hadn't he known about them? Why had Sakura not told him? He did the math in his head and knew why then…she'd have been pulled from the frontline had she let them know she had a kid. That would have taken them away from one another. He knew she'd refuse to ever leave his side voluntarily. Gaara just stared at Sakura, who cried like her she was dying.

He didn't blame her. He'd practically ripped her heart out and stomped on it. He stood on unsteady legs and tried to walk to her, but his oldest son came between them. "I wont let you hurt her again! All anyone in this place has done over the last five years has been hurting my momma! I wont let you!" the younger boy ran at him and hit him on the chest. Gaara looked down at his young son and couldn't help the emotion that welled up inside him. He pulled the boy into a hug, despite the boy's protests and the hits and kicks. The boy's angry yells soon turned to tears of anger as he beat against his father's chest. "Why!? Why weren't you there to protect her!?" Gaara could feel tears burning in his eyes and he shook his head, unable to speak.

He walked over to where Sakura had collapsed and dropped down in front of her. He pulled her into his embrace and wiped at her tears. "Sakura…I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? I would have gone with you…I would have left everything behind to be with you, to raise our baby together…" Sakura cried harder and pressed her face into his chest. Gaara kissed her head and tried to calm her down. He made her look up and look at him. "Sakura…you said I never once told you, but I told you every day…with my actions, with my eyes…I couldn't say it then Sakura, I couldn't trust myself…but Sakura, I do love you…with every part of me, I love you." Sakura threw her arms around Gaara and cried against his shoulder. He rubbed her back and whispered to her.

Gaara noticed the smaller boy huddled to the older, both boys looked lost without their mother. Gaara opened his arm up so that they could participate in the hug. The little boy looked afraid, but Gaara smirked and teased him. "Better get in here or mommy's gonna steal daddy away." the little boy's eyes went really big and he rushed to Gaara's side, hugging him. Gaara looked up at the older boy, who seemed to be contemplating either hitting him again or breaking down and crying. Gaara gave the boy a knowing look and shifted the younger child so that the older could join, should he choose to. With an uncertain look, Sei walked over to them, but when he saw his mother clinging to the red head that was his father, he broke down in tears again.

"MOMMA!" the boy sobbed and threw himself into their arms. As a whole, they held each other and cried.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

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**Epilogue**

"SEI! RORI! Dinner's ready!" the mild tenor went through the house more effectively than any yell. The sound of footsteps brought jade green eyes up just in time to see a small boy flying at him.

"Dad, catch me!" came the youthful voice of his youngest son, Rori. With a chuckle, the red head caught his son and swung him around. A sigh came from the stairs above them.

"Rori, you're almost twelve. You keep that up and you're going to hurt dad. If mom sees you doin that she's gonna be upset." the younger boy pouted and looked up at his father.

"He's alright, Sei. But thank you for your concern." Gaara's voice was quiet, as was his oldest son's. Sei just shrugged.

"I just don't mom upset. You know what happened last time." all three males nodded sagely as they remembered the enraged female they'd had on their hands.

The patter of uneven steps were heard and all three turned to see a tiny child with chaotic red hair headed their way. "Dada!" the little imp screamed happily, running and grabbing Gaara's leg. Gaara chuckled and picked up the little mess of red locks and shook his head.

"Tsuki, what are you doing? Are you running from mommy again?" he chided the small bundle. The little bundle clapped erratically and they all heard a giggle behind them. They turned and found Sakura standing there, her stomach swollen with pregnancy.

"She got away from me as soon as I managed to get her clothes on. Her hair is still wet." Gaara eyed the child, who took it upon her self to prove her mother right. Shaking her head wildly, her long soaked locks of crimson hair whipped out and made a splat noise against those it came into contact with…especially Sei.

With a huff, the oldest child looked at the youngest. "You little beast! Let's see how you like…the tickle monster!" Sei grabbed his little sister from his father and started tickling her, making her squeal and giggle and thrash around wildly. Sei was smiling and holding her carefully as he played with her. Finally, she was too tired to play anymore and laid her tiny head on her brother's shoulder. "I'll brush her hair out mom. You go ahead and sit down." he offered quietly and went to the bathroom to retrieve the brush. Sakura smiled and made her way into the kitchen.

She felt Gaara's arms wrap around her as she walked in and waited for the rest before sitting. Tsuki was in her highchair, sippy cup and blanket in hand. Her long red hair was brushed and braided. Sakura smiled…a sister was exactly what Sei had needed to calm down a little. And Rori adored the little girl, even though he was nearly ten years older than her. They all sat down and started eating their food. Sakura looked up from her lasagna and regarded her sons.

"So, how is school going?" Sei shrugged and took a bite of toast while Rori beamed.

"I got highest marks in the class again. Ms. Phillips says I'm the smartest kid in my grade." Rori smiled and started eating again as his mother smiled and congratulated him. Gaara nodded in approval and patted his son on the head. He then looked over at Sei, who was pushing his food around on his plate.

"What about you, Sei? You haven't been pulling anymore pranks with the computers and projectors, have you?" Sei shook his head and sighed, putting his fork down.

"It's so boring in class. They give us all this really easy classwork and expect it to take the whole time. And when I get it finished, I'm totally bored out of my mind. They wont let me use the computer Uncle Kashi got me for my birthday a while back, so I'm stuck being bored. Then they accuse me of cheating on the tests when I get a perfect score." he shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "Not my fault they teach easy crap." he grumbled and looked over at his sister, who was looking at his with wide, adoring green eyes. His own softened and he stood up. "I'm going to take Tsuki to her room and start rocking her. I'm not really hungry anyways. I grabbed some food with Mori and Hikami on the way home." Sakura nodded and kissed her son, smiling at him. She then kissed her almost two year old daughter, who snuggled up to her brother almost immediately.

When Sei was out of the room, Rori stood up and stretched. "I have to finish my homework. Can I watch National Geographic when it comes on tonight? It's about sharks and other aquatic life." he looked so eager Sakura could help but say yes. He smiled, kissed her on the cheek and then hugged his dad goodnight. When both the boys were gone, Gaara turned to Sakura.

"Sakura, we've got to do something about Sei. He's too smart to let it go to waste sitting in a classroom. He gets bored too easily where he's at. I'm guessing Rori's going to be the same way the older he gets. They take after you in that aspect." he smirked when she giggled and shook her head.

"I suppose you're right. I was starting to think the same thing when I got a call from Mr. Prescott, Sei's principal, and he told me that Sei had rewired their entire network to block any adult sites…even on the staff computers." Gaara chuckled and shook his head, looking towards the stair case where their children had gone up, not even ten minutes ago. He smiled warmly and looked at Sakura, his hand resting on hers.

"Well, I know that Kakashi has been wanting to test Sei's skills for a while now, but he's too afraid to ask you. It's better to find out how high is I.Q. is now, rather than wait until it's too late and he just stops doing his schoolwork out of sheer boredom." Though Sakura was not too keen on allowing her son to have any association with the Agency after the past happenings there, she knew her husband was right. She sighed and nodded.

"I know, Gaara, but I still can't help but be wary of that place…even if Kakashi is in charge right now. There's no guarantee who he will run in to, who will try to recruit him…anything could happen. I don't want my son turning into what I did when I was a field agent." her voice was low and he knew she was remembering the things she'd done over her years in the service. He squeezed her hand and smirked when she looked up at him.

"No one's going to recruit him. Don't forget, both you and I still work at the Agency…we just aren't field agents anymore." Sakura nodded, but her smile was only half hearted. He decided to cheer her up. "By the way, Naruto called." Sakura looked up at him, curious. He smirked. "Hinata's pregnant." Sakura's eyes went wide before she smiled a true smile.

"That's great! How far along is she?" Gaara smiled and finished off the last of his lasagna and salad.

"A little over two months." Sakura nodded and they talked for a few minutes about how odd it was that Naruto would soon be a father. Gaara held up his finger again, trying to catch something in his memory. "Oh, and before I forget, Ino told me to tell you to start working out as soon as you have the baby, because she wants you to be in her wedding next summer." Sakura giggled and clutched her stomach. The baby could be born any day now and Ino was worried about next summer.

Gaara stood and picked up their plates, kissing her on the head. Sakura sat there, thinking about what had happened over the last year and a half, almost two years. They'd mended their small family with love and trust, built upon it and finally created the family they were now. Sei was still really protective of his mom, as was Rori. They were also both extremely protective of their little sister. They knew their dad could handle himself, they'd seen him take on a guy that tried to pick a fight with him at a soccer game.

She smiled and rubbed her stomach. A frown creased her brows as a sudden pain erupted in her abdomen. She sat straight up and narrowed her eyes, waiting. Suddenly, another pain hit her and she gasped. "Gaara!" she called out to him. He looked at her from the sink, his jade eyes questioning. However, she'd had enough kids to know what was going on. "Gaara, I'm having contractions!" she said in a low, hurried voice. The pain was getting worse. The dishes clattered to the counter and he shut off the water. He kissed her head and rushed up the steps to tell their oldest kids what was going on.

He was back down the steps and had a bag in hand only moments later. He helped her up and to the garage door. They were followed closely by a bundled up Rori and Sei, who had Tsuki bundled up, even though she was asleep.

They were in their black minivan, Sei in the back holding Tsuki and Rori in the middle, Sakura and Gaara in front. Sakura laid her seat back and did the breathing exercises. She looked over at her husband, who was calmly pulling out of their garage. She held his hand and he smiled at her. With a strained voice, she whispered "I love you." He smiled again and kissed the back of her hand.

"I love you too, my heart." And with that, they were off to the hospital.


End file.
